This Small Village In French Dares To 'reject' Elon Musk's Internet

One corner of the Village of Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, Normandy, France. (Wikimedia Commons / Ikmo-ned)

JAKARTA - Elon Musk is indeed one of the billionaires as well as the richest person in the world. However, the inhabitants of a small French village, Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, dare to say 'no' to Musk's plan.

Musk, founder of SpaceX and electric car maker Tesla, dreams of sending thousands of satellites to provide fast internet service to remote parts of the world.

In February, Musk said the Starlink internet service, developed by SpaceX, will reach most areas of the earth by the end of this year. To make this happen, the tech billionaire plans to install an international antenna network.

But Saint-Senier-de-Beuvron, Normandy, France, located just 20 kilometers from the majestic Mont Saint-Michel monastery on the English Channel, was not too happy to be selected as the earth station for the service.

"This project is completely new. We do not know the impact of this signal. As a precautionary measure, the city council said no", the deputy Mayor of the village, Noemie Brault, told Euronews.

The ground antenna will then pick up the signal from the satellite network, then send it to individual user terminals connected by cable.

Brault, who is also a farmer, claims that society has no data' about the final effect of these signals on human or animal health.

Separately, the French national radio frequency agency ANFR, which approved the Starlink station, said the stations did not pose a risk to residents, not least because they would be beamed directly into the sky. There are already about 100 such sites across France and the technology behind Starlink has been in use for about 50 years.

However, these claims have not convinced some local breeders, including Jean-Marc Belloir, who is concerned that his cows will start producing less milk.

"On our farm, we are always online. My cows are hooked up, my smartwatch warns me when they are going to give birth", said Belloir.

"But when you look at the range of this antenna, there has to be some research, about the potential impact", said the man who baptized his newest calf named 'SpaceX du Beuvron', a joint venture owned by Elon Musk with the name of a tributary that runs through his village.

Contractors Starlink has secured French regulatory approval to begin construction at Saint-Senier, one of four locations planned for France. They believed that once they submitted their request again, the village council would most likely not be able to block the antenna installation.